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Day 5 starting.

Date: Fri, May 16, 2008

I would very much like to do better today than yesterday, both in terms of $$$ and number of hands. With the new goal of SEVENTY THOUSAND HANDS, there is no reason to be lazy. Here we go then: Gogogogogo!!!

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A bad day even.

Date: Thu, May 15, 2008


Total
40.6 hours, 39,308 hands, $20,691, MT Ratio: 8.61, 2.62PTBB/100 (4.2 equity adjusted).

Today:
8.9 hours, 8,130 hands, -$4,340, MT Ratio: 8.5, -2.9PTBB/100.




So I am down $16k in all-in luck this week. That's basically all I have to say about that. I am now including my equity adjusted BB/100 in my daily report card. No, I probably wouldn't have done that if I had been ahead.

Aside from a modest daily result things are going well. I am playing well, not having any physical problems, and people are showing some interest in the project which is all good. So I am now UPGRADING MY GOAL! 50k hands is just a short weeks work, to be a real bad-ass I gotta do 70k. I always thought 10k a day had a nice ring to it, I just didn't quite believe myself capable of that many. The new goal should keep me from growing all fat and happy with myself the next couple of days.

Until tomorrow...

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A slow day.

Date: Thu, May 15, 2008

Total
35.2 hours, 34,288 hands, $26,955, MT Ratio: 8.6, 3.8PTBB/100.

Today:
3.4 hours, 3,110 hands, $1,924, MT Ratio: 8.18, 1.16PTBB/100.

I got a late start to the day because of not being able to get out of bed, and then excercise. On top of that there was a poker lecture at the office, and many people about. All good times, but not helpful towards the marathon.

Things have settled down now, so I am counting on 5 solid hours now.

Btw ace magazine have linked to me (in danish).

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Day 4 starting.

Date: Thu, May 15, 2008

Starting late, but starting NOW!!! Gogogogo.

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Soaring.

Date: Wed, May 14, 2008


Total
31.8 hours, 31,178 hands, $25,031, MT Ratio: 8.64, 4.06PTBB/100.

Today:
10.8 hours, 10,417 hands, $14,713, MT Ratio: 8.58, 6.60PTBB/100.


Yesterday a few hours into day 2, I was down $13k for the week, and at the bottom of a 30 buy-in downswing. What a difference a day makes. Now I am sitting pretty on my mountain of gold snickering arrogantly at the poor bastards whose aces I crack with my kings.

When you are on top things like now, of course everything seems like cotton candy. But yesterday I really think the marathon concept did wonders for me. I would have quit 10 times during my monster day yesterday if I hadn't put up this challenge for myself, and I probably would have played worse when the results really went against me. I am not usually prone to tilt, but I am sure my game deteriorates a bit during the really ugly periods when nothing goes right. When you know that the results have no immidiate effect on you (you are still going to have a crappy week sitting bent over your keyboard no matter what) they become less of strain on you when they suck.

Physically I feel the strain now, I have a bit of pain and tension in back and shoulders, and I suspect that won't go away for long this week. Will get some more excercise tomorrow before playing, hopefully that will work out some kinks.

The great results of the last day and a half have been a nice companion, so I haven't really had a problem staying motivated and focused. But I foresee tough times if I hit a bad streak the next couple of days, since I am now getting a bit sick of playing poker, and still not exactly near the end. I have four days to go, and I am counting on my natural stubbornness to get me through.

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Donks aplenty.

Date: Wed, May 14, 2008

Total
26.0 hours, 25,807 hands, $15,816, MT Ratio: 8.63, 3.21PTBB/100.

Today:
5.1 hours, 5,046 hands, $5,499, MT Ratio: 4.92, 4.92PTBB/100.



Party Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $195
CO: $1311.63
Hero: $1415
SB: $1154
BB: $1120

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is Button with :3s :3d
UTG folds, CO raises to $100, Hero calls, 2 folds.

Flop: :8d :9s :3c ($215, 2 players)
CO bets $250, Hero calls.

Turn: :9h ($715, 2 players)
CO bets $400, Hero raises to $1000, CO calls all-in $561.63.
Uncalled bets: $38.37 returned to Hero.

River: :4c ($2638.26, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2638.26)

Results:
Final pot: $2638.26
Hero shows 3s 3d (full house)
CO doesn't show As Qc (one pair)


'Nuff said.

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Day 3 taking off.

Date: Wed, May 14, 2008

This is it. This is me. Gogogogogo!

(Amazing how little you have to write about when all you do is sleep, eat, **** and play poker)

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End of day 2.

Date: Tue, May 13, 2008


And what a day it was.

Total
21.0 hours, 20,761 hands, $10,318, MT Ratio: 8.67, 2.79PTBB/100.

Today:
10.6 hours, 10,698 hands, $18,636, MT Ratio: 8.88, 10.16PTBB/100.


That went a long way towards redeeming all of the ill luck I went through yesterday. However, I am still owed $6k on that account, so my equity adjusted BB/100 is actually 4.2 instead of the measly 2.8 I am stuck with now. Well, at least I am not stuck under a brick wall somewhere in China.

See you tomorrow.

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It had to get worse...

Date: Tue, May 13, 2008

...before it got better.

Total
14.7 hours, 14,425 hands, +$191, MT Ratio: 8.5, 0.44PTBB/100.

Today:
4.3 hours, 4,362 hands, $8,509, MT Ratio: 8.72, 10.1PTBB/100.

The day started as yesterday ended: Rigged beyond belief. I had kings vs aces twice, and aces over trips and two pair twice, and lost a coin flip on top. I was down over $13k total at one point. But suddenly things started going my way, and I ripped home 10k in one and a half hour. That is the kind of streaks we have been waiting for!

Now dinner break.

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Day 2.

Date: Tue, May 13, 2008

After some sleep, excercise and food, I am ready for day two. I am gunning for 10k non-rigged hands. Gogogogogo!!!

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End of day 1.

Date: Mon, May 12, 2008


10.4 hours, 10,063 hands, -$8318, MT Ratio: 8.5, -3.76PTBB/100.

Dedicated readers might notice that the graph is currently pointing in the wrong direction. I am not going to pretend that is completely according to plan, but money comes and goes, look at all the hands I played, that's nice isn't it?

It turns out the dreaded partypoker doom switch has come on for me big time, and pitted against that mighty force, all things good and righteous must fail. You may not believe me, but even playing 8-10 tables of poker for all those hours, I truly believe I have played extremely well. I was fairly sure of it even before I studied my all-in luck graph for today, but that turned out to be a somewhat reviving experience. For the day I am down no less than $13k in bad all-in luck. Meaning that if every pot had been split according to equity after the money went in, I would have had a surplus of $4600 instead of being stuck over $8k. An exceptional result that handily beats anything I have experienced. Closest thing I can recall is when I was down $11k in all-in luck one day in december, but that was at 2000NL, while this was almost exclusively 1000NL.


Anyway, first day of my marathon went pretty well, I am not physically exhausted or anything, just a little bit mentally bombed from all the nasty setups and suckouts. If I'd had a positive buttom line I probably would have gone on for an hour or two. Tomorrow I will probably go to the gym and shake up the old office body a little bit before putting in another day at the tables. Hopefully just like this one except for the riggedness.

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Pit stop 1.

Date: Mon, May 12, 2008

5.8 hours, 5,790 hands, -$1540, MT Ratio: 8.4, -4.71PTBB/100.

So far so good. I think I am playing well, and the lousy results are mainly due to some nasty suckouts and setups. Interestingly enough, I feel much more detached from my results when I know I am still going to play 49,500 more hands this week. Somehow it is easier to consider the long run, at least that is my experience so far. But that doesn't help the fact that today and last week has been absolutely brutal. I am down about $25k during my last 4 or 5 sessions. I am glad I will win it all back this week :).

Now a well deserved dinner break.

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50,000 hand week, gogogogo!!!

Date: Mon, May 12, 2008

Starting NOW!

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Training for a marathon.

Date: Fri, Apr 11, 2008

I am still excited about my Copenhagen Poker Marathon experiment. The more I think about it the more I want to do it, and the more am I convinced that the experience will help me expand my capacity for playing fully focused long hours. Furthermore, I think it is quite possible I could be a better player at the end.

Like all other body parts, I believe that you can train your brain to perform at a higher level for longer periods of time. So, if I am to play poker for a whole week only interrupted by a bit of sleep here and there, I think it will be necessarry for me to practice at playing long sessions.

Yesterday I did my first marathon session experiment. I played for 9 hours and 45 minutes, the last 7 of those hours basically uninterrupted. That came out as 7744 hands of poker in a day. Quite an output considering a normal month for me is at 30k-40k hands. Results wise it was also a good day, with a 3.9PTBB/100 win rate.

I was pleasantly surprised that I suffered no ill effects during the long session. I was able to play well throughout, and I still feel sane today. Of course there is no guarantee that I would know it if I had actually lost my sanity... I alternated between sitting and standing a little bit, but still had a little back ache when it was over, so I foresee more of that when I am going to do it a whole week. I think I need to condition my back a little bit during the next month, or I could really hurt myself with an experiment like the one I am planning. Overall, being in good physical condition is absolutely necessarry if you are going to be sitting down a lot!

While I felt well throughout the entire session, the last hour was really a bore, and I felt very tired. Quite possibly my fatigue was only a result of knowing that I was close to the end, as I had planned ahead when to stop. If I had planned for two hours more, there is a chance I could have easily done that and still only been tired the last hour. But since I don't think I have ever played such a monster session before, I can't complain about being a little bombed in the head.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the whole project is what it will do to my poker game. In my opinion, the worst thing that could happen is nothing. You could point out that this is a likely result, since the main focus is on long hours and many open tables, so there is no time to really concentrate on quality. But I hope that simply burying myself in poker for a long time, and clearing my mind of every day items will have a positive effect, and allow me to get deeper into the game. All of the top cash game players have one thing in common: They have all played insane amounts of poker. Also, I have read several of the top players describe important steps in their carreers as periods of time where they focused solely on poker, without the hazzle of an every day life ruining the concentration. Additionally I hope that when I am in the middle of a +50k hand week, the imidiate results will seem more trivial, and allow me to focus more on decisions, less on results.

I look forward to reporting how things turn out.

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